Maria Sharapova believes the Lawn Tennis Association may have to wait a while before they produce a home grown champion.

The four-time grand slam champion, who won Wimbledon at the age of 17, claims that if young players possess the wrong attitude or lack sound guidance, they will struggle to make it at a professional level.

The Russian stressed even the richest national bodies could not take a short-cut to grand slam glory by signing big cheques.

Last year, the LTA spent a fraction under £30million on player development and encouraging participation in tennis.

Speaking at the All England Club, the 26-year-old said: "I think we talk about it every single year here. You get a lot of questions about, 'Why is our generation...' or, 'Why are girls and boys from our country not doing extremely well right now?'.

"Well, it's because it doesn't all happen in one night.

"Just because you have money and you have the best people and the best training in the world, doesn't create or make talent in one or two days or a month or a year. It takes a really long time.

"I think there are a lot of federations that have a lot of money. I'm sure the LTA is one of them."

If fledgling players are not prepared to scrap for the prospect of a well-rewarded career at the beginning of their tennis lives, Sharapova is certain their destiny is failure.

She said: "If you're talented and you don't have work ethic or you're not placed in the right hands, it's really easy to not make it. That's the bottom line."